Caps for containers



Nov. 19, 1968 A. L. SH'UFFREY ETAL Filed Oct. 21. 1966 ANTHONY L. SHUFFREY CHARLES IV. TEBH/TT INVENTORS ATTORIVZ' YS I v United States Patent Ofice 3,411,652 Patented Nov. 19, 1968 3,411,652 CAPS FOR CONTAINERS Anthony Leir Shutlrey, London Borough of Harrow, and Charles Norman Tebbutt, London Borough of Southall, England, assiguors to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 588,533 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 16, 1965, 48,654/ 65 Claims. (Cl. 215-41) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A snap-on cap for closing a container the mouth of which is defined by an outwardly rolled edge, said cap being made of resilient thermoplastic material and comprising a crown from which depend inner and outer concentric skirts having opposed swellings on the facing walls thereof, one of which swellings snaps beneath the rolled edge of the container to hold the cap in place and the other of which engages the inner wall of the container below the top to provide a hermetic seal.

This invention relates to caps for containers and in particular to a cap for closing a container the mouth of which is defined by an out-turned curl.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cap of the kind mentioned which is capable of sealing the container against the ingress of atmospheric moisture, which can be firmly applied to the container, and which forms with the mouth-defining curl of the container a mechanical lock which is of sufiicient strength to resist internal pressure within the container, for example pressure such as may be created by high altitude.

According to the invention there is provided a cap for closing a container the mouth of which is defined by an out-turned curl, said cap being made of resilient synthetic thermoplastic material and comprising a crown and inner and outer concentric annular skirts of which the inner skirt is provided between the ends thereof with a first swelling extending therearound and facing the interior of the outer skirt and the interior of the outer skirt is provided between the ends thereof with a second swelling which extends therearound and is opposed to said first swelling, said swellings being so arranged that when the cap is applied to the container the first swelling makes sealing relation with the interior side walls of the container and the second swelling engages beneath the mouth-defining curl of the container and is retained in mechanical engagement therewith by a thickened peripheral free end portion of the outer skirt.

The facing sides of the inner and outer skirts may be divergent from said swellings towards the open end of the cap, and the inner skirt may extend out of the open end of the cap as defined by the free end of the outer skirt.

If desired, the cap may include within the inner skirt a locating device arranged to locate within the container an object such as the spool of a photographic film cassette. The locating device may consist of an annular collar concentric with the inner skirt and depending from the crown of the cap.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood some embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a section through a cap according to the FIG. 3 is a section of a part of a modified form of the cap, and

FIG. 4 is a section of a part of a further modified form of the cap.

In the drawings like references denote like or similar parts.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cap is made of resilient synthetic thermoplastic material, for example polyethylene, and comprises a crown 1 and inner and outer concentric annular skirts 2, 3. The inner skirt 2 is provided between the ends thereof with a first swelling 4 which extends therearound and faces the interior of the outer skirt 3. The interior of the outer skirt 3 is provided with a second swelling 5 which extends therearound and is opposed to the first swelling 4.

The swellings 4, 5 are so arranged that when the cap is -applied to a container 6, FIG. 2, the first swelling 4 makes sealing relation with the interior side walls of the container and the second swelling 5 is engaged beneath the outturned mouth-defining curl 7 of the container and is retained in mechanical engagement with the curl 7 by a thickened peripheral free end portion 8 of the outer skirt 3. The seal formed between the swelling 4 and the interior side walls of the container effects a seal against the ingress of atmospheric moisture, and during application of the cap to the container the swelling 5 snaps over the curl 7 with an audible click thus indicating that the cap is firmly and properly applied to elfect closing of the container.

.The facing sides 9, 10 of the inner and outer skirts are divergent from the swellings 4, 5 towards the open end 11 of the cap and, as shown in the drawings, the inner skirt 2 extends out of the open end of the cap as defined by the free end of the outer skirt. The taper 9 of the inner skirt 2 is so related to the taper 10 of the outer skirt that the curl 7 does not make firm contact with either skirt until it is about to lock with the outer skirt. Thus if the cap is not correctly applied to the container the cap will drop 01f the container.

The opposed swellings 4, 5 define a channel by which the curl 7 is firmly gripped and in conjunction with the thickened rim 8 provide a mechanical engagement with the container which is sufficient to retain the cap on the container up to internal pressures of the order of 10 pounds per square inch.

The container 6 may be of extruded aluminum and be intended to contain a conventional 35 mm. cassette of photographic film as indicated at C in broken lines in FIG. 1. When the container is intended for this purpose the cap may be provided with a cassette locating device which may be of any suitable form. As illustrated in dotdash lines in FIG. 1 the locating means consists of an annular collar 12 which is disposed within the inner skirt 2 to be concentric therewith, and which depends from the crown 1 to embrace the end of a film spool F contained within the cassettte. The cap is preferably moulded by injection moulding and when it includes a collar 12 the collar is moulded to be integral with the cap.

-The cap illustrated in FIG. 3 is similar to that of FIG. 1 but the shape of the swelling 4 is slightly different from that shown in FIG. 1. The cap of FIG. 4 is generally similar to that of FIG. 3 but the tapering side 10 terminates in a portion 13 substantially parallel to the axis of the cap.

We claim: I

1. A reclosable cap for closing a container the mouth of which is defined by an out-turned curl all exposed surfaces of which are arcuate, said cap being made of resilient synthetic thermoplastic material and comprising a crown and inner and outer concentric annular skirts depending therefrom; of which the inner skirt is provided between the ends thereof with a first swelling extending therearound and facing the interior of the outer skirt; the free end of said outer skirt terminating in a thickened portion which resists stretching radially; the interior of the outer skirt provided between the ends thereof with a second swelling which extends therearound and is opposed to said first swelling, said swelling being so arranged that when the cap is applied to the container the first swelling makes sealing contact with the interior of the side walls of the container and the second swelling engages beneath the mouth-defining curl of the container and is retained in mechanical engagement therewith by the thickened free end portion of the outer skirt.

2. A reclosable cap according to claim 1, wherein the facing sides of the inner and outer skirts are divergent from said swellings towards the open end of the cap.

3. A reclosable cap according to claim 2, wherein the inner skirt extends out of the open end of the ca as defined by the free end of the outer skirt.

4. A reclosable cap according to claim 1, wherein said container is adapted to hold a 35 mm. photographic film cassette on end therein, and including within the inner skirt a locating device depending from said crown arranged for engaging and locating the photographic film cassette within the container 5. A reclosable cap according to claim 4, wherein the locating device consists of an annular collar concentric with the inner skirt and depending from the crown of the cap for embracing the spool of the cassette and engaging the upper end of the film cassette.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,463,088 7/1923 Lynch 20646 3,164,278 1/1965 Lohrer 215-41 3,322,299 5/1967 Foster 220-60 3,297,193 1/1967 Stevens 220-6O WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner. 

